Barney: NBC's medical series 'Trauma' flirting with death

CONTRARY TO widespread rumor, "Trauma" is not dead yet. But the Bay Area medical series might as well be on life support.

Only a few weeks ago, "Trauma" was declared a goner in Hollywood trade publications. Although NBC didn't issue an official cancellation, the network said it would halt production of the low-rated, high-cost drama after it completed shooting its initial order of 13 episodes.

In the TV biz, that's essentially a death notice and members of the media — including myself — began issuing final rites for the show about San Francisco paramedics.

"The obituaries were piling up. A lot of people naturally thought we were dead," says executive producer Jeffrey Reiner. "And NBC did nothing to counteract those reports."

But then something encouraging happened on the way to the graveyard. In a desperate effort to save the show, Reiner and his collaborators trimmed more than $500,000 from its production budget. Also, in late October, "Trauma" experienced a ratings bump. It was a wee little bump, but a bump nevertheless and networks don't typically ignore numbers on the plus side — especially if they're struggling as much as NBC is.

And so NBC gave the OK for three more episodes of "Trauma," bringing the order to 16. That's still not a full season (22). And that's not a huge confidence-builder. But Reiner will take it.

"We're barely hanging in there, but at least we're in the hunt right now," he says. "And that's all we can ask for."

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Things can always change, but the plan is for "Trauma" to air its 10th episode at 9 tonight and then slip into hibernation for a while. The show most likely will return after the Winter Olympics in February to roll out its six remaining episodes on a night yet to be determined. From that point on, it's anybody's guess.

It's a curious move for NBC, given that "Trauma" isn't burning up the Nielsens and that critics aren't exactly raving about it. James Hibberd of the Hollywood Reporter speculated that the increased episode order may be tied to NBC's need for inventory, calling it "more filler than faith."

Still, Reiner refuses to give up on "Trauma," the first prime-time series to shoot exclusively in the Bay Area since "Nash Bridges" (1996-2001). As such, it pumps money into the economy and provides jobs to local crew members and actors.

"We've experienced a sense of rallying among the crew," he says. "We decided that we were going to do anything to keep it going — that we were going to be inventive and dig deep."

Reiner insists that the budget cuts actually have helped the show. In recent episodes, there has been less emphasis on costly special effects and carnage and more on character development.

"There's definitely less adrenaline and action-figure stuff," he says. "We're not a soap opera, but we're getting a feel for who these characters are and I think viewers are becoming invested in them."

As for the antsy feeling that comes with flirting with extinction, Reiner is used to it. For the past three seasons, he worked on NBC's "Friday Night Lights," which was constantly on the bubble.

"Heck, we thought we were dead every year, but we lived to fight on," he says. "You just concentrate on doing the best work you can — and wait with bated breath."